Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has credited the system and the investment India made in the past 20 years for their historic and one of the Test cricket’s best ever series wins in Australia.
Despite more than half a dozen first-choice players ruled out with injuries, Team India pulled off a miraculous win at Australia’s fortress The Gabba to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 on Tuesday (January 19) and the youngsters played a huge role in India’s historic triumph for the ages.
Akhtar believes that India is reaping the benefits of their past 20 years’ investment while hailing Rahul Dravid for grooming the youngsters like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar – who played a huge role in ending Australia's dominance at the Gabba for the first time in 32 years.
On his YouTube Channel, Akhtar explained: “I was thinking about the reasons behind India's win at Gabba. They won because of the investment they made 20 years ago. These kids that came solidified India's bench strength. This investment is paying back to India.”
Former Pakistani cricketer also said Indian Premier League (IPL) has played a huge role in boosting the confidence of the youngsters and resulting in they have shown great courage and fight against the Aussies at their own den to win the Test series for India.
He added, “India started the IPL, the players got exposure, and they made use of it. The Indian players learned from playing along with overseas cricketers and gained confidence from that.”
Shoaib also said Dravid deserves huge credit for India’s remarkable Test series wins in Australia on the back of young Indian kids. The legendary Indian batsman has coached India U-19 and India A teams and is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy.
He said: “But think about it. Who was the player that was given charge of the academy? The best Test player produced in the country, Rahul Dravid. Because they did not want to spoil the kids. He created the U-19 team, he established players in the academy, and now these Indian kids are beating Australia.”
Akhtar signed off by saying, “The bench strength of India with these youngsters won this Test. A system has won that India had invested in past 10-20 years ago.
They brought solid, honest hard workers, and people who were not in it to make money. They were people who cared about cricket. Rahul Dravid came first, and then Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
